In the course of your adult life, you are bound to deal with a roommate at some point. Once or twice, you’d have to deal with roommate woes. There are many types of roommates, and you’ll either love or hate them. As people are hardly ever perfect, finding an ideal roommate is close to impossible. But paying less rental fees and feeling safer knowing that you’ve got company are all worth sharing a home, even with a complete stranger. Plus, you can always learn to adjust to their quirks! Learn about the many different types of roommates you are bound to encounter and how to deal with them.
The Ghost
There’s that roommate who is never home you start to wonder if he exists at all. At least not until one night when you suddenly hear movements in the next room and wonder if your roommate is home or if you’re now dealing with an actual ghost. Not brave enough to go and actually check, you spend the rest of the night hiding under the sheets and unable to sleep.
While it’s totally not cool to have a fright night when you should be recharging for the next day, this kind of roommate is not one you should hate. If he is barely ever home, it’s as if you rented the whole place for half the price. That’s great bargain. If you want to avoid any “ghost encounter,” talk to your roommate and come up with a workable agreement. Politely ask him to inform you everytime he intends to show up in your home, so you don’t get rattled by sudden noises.
The Hermit
And here’s the exact opposite of the ghost. Your roommate seems to never leave the house. Not even on weekends! You’ve started to wonder if he’s enrolled at all, as you always see him holed up in his corner of the room.
While it can be disappointing to never have the place to yourself, just be grateful you won’t have to deal with ghost encounters. On a serious note, try not to get weirded out by your friend and simply understand that some people are just more comfortable staying home. Having to go out and socialize with other people may even be stressful for them. And yes, just be thankful you won’t have to be alone at your home away from home.
The Silent Aggressor
You’ve come to hate the sight of a sticky note. It’s a sign of yet another thing you failed to do right. No thanks to your passive-aggressive roommate. That one time you forgot to turn off the electric fan, you got a note. You mistakenly left your clothes in the bathroom, you got a “Please don’t leave clothes here. Thanks! :)” note in an instant. You feel like you’ve been reduced to an erring child, and for little infractions at that!
Before you get too stressed out though, take the moment to understand that your roommate may find leaving notes a gentler way to give you reminders. And this may be something she prefers over leaving things to become bigger issues. While they may feel like microaggressions to you, don’t let them get to you. Just shrug them off and get on with your day. You can always control the way you react, after all.
The OCD Cleaner
And there’s your OCD roommate! Try as you must, you’re never clean enough for this person. Even the sticky notes make much more sense now that you’re faced with higher standards. You thought you liked it at first. The overly clean toilet, the spotless kitchen, the wonderfully clean living area — the place just felt more liveable. But now even your fingerprint in the mirror is starting to feel like a crime.
You don’t have to butt heads with the OCD Cleaner, though. Just try to clean up after yourself, and if you must leave a mess, keep everything in your space. And make sure it’s not anywhere that’s visible to your roommate. You need to understand that a messy room can literally give an OCD person a headache, and you simply must spare him that.
The Slob
And you might have experienced dealing with the exact opposite of the OCD cleaner — the Slob! The Slob lacks even the most basic cleaning and hygiene habits, that you’ll be the one left with a headache. You’ll often find your roommate surrounded by a pile of dirty laundry, unwashed dishes, and food containers. The best approach to dealing with this kind of roommate is to talk to him directly. Politely ask him to clean up after himself. And as much as possible, keep to your own cleaner space.
The Taker
You believed it at first when he’d say he’d just “borrow” something, but now you just know that he’s The Taker. Sure, what he takes are not all that important, but it’s annoying anyhow. So how do you deal with a Taker? Essentially, the dynamics you have is tantamount to living with an annoying sibling who feels a little too free to overstep his boundaries. You can fix this by gently reminding your roommate about your boundaries, and how uncomfortable he’s been making you feel.
The Clingy One
And here’s someone who oversteps her boundaries on a different level. She just can’t seem to respect your personal boundaries! At first, you loved just how friendly your roommate was. She went out of her way to spend time with you and take interest in your life, asking personal questions and getting to know you on a deeper level. But now you just can’t seem to get her off your back. If you step out to have lunch, she’d be on your heels. When you make plans to go out, she asks just where you’re going and if she could go too.
Sure roommates like this can be suffocating, but it’s not exactly a hopeless case. First of all, try to understand where your roommate is coming from so you don’t get too annoyed. Understand that people like this may have a fear of being left out, and that turning you into a best friend may serve as validation for her self-esteem. Have her join you in some of your activities, but politely decline to take her with you when you feel like being alone. Just let her know that you need the solitude, so she can understand that it is not about her.
The Social Animal
And here’s the less shy version of the Clingy Roommate. She can’t stand to be alone, so she’s always surrounded by her buddies. She needs her crew even to study. She’s always out partying and end up bringing the crowd home. Asking your roommate to tone it down will make you feel like a buzzkill, but do it anyway. Come up with a compromise. Ask her to avoid having people at your home beyond certain hours, and to control the noise when you are sleeping.
Learning how to deal with roommates can make living in a shared space a lot easier. Plus, the convenience of condo living is simply worth the compromise. A shared space is a great way to make living in a DMCI condo fit your budget, allowing you to choose better yet pricier units. You know this is something that’s hard to pass up.
